KOCHI: The mesmerising lyrics by legendary lyricist Vayalar Ramavarma evoked waves of nostalgia among the many music buffs gathered at the day-long ‘Vayalar Utsav’ held here on Sunday.
The Utsav, organised by the Asianet News Channel to commemorate the poet, turned into a convergence of personalities from all walks of life, including political and cultural leaders. Inaugurating the Utsav, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said Vayalar was not only a poet and lyricist but also a true politician.
“He was a poet who drew inspiration from the sufferings of the workers and the downtrodden. Vayalar’s motivating poems played an important role in the growth of the communist movement in the state,” he said.
Reciting the revolutionary poems of Vayalar - ‘Kayaru Pirikkum Thozhilalikkoru Kadhayundu’ and ‘Bali Kudeerangale’ - Achuthanandan said the poet’s words were inspiring.
“He was a poet who firmly declared ‘enikku maranamilla’(I am immortal). It is true. In all corners of the world where Malayalis reside, Vayalar’s songs reverberate,” the Chief Minister added. In his presidential address, Union Minister for Indian Overseas Affairs Vayalar Ravi said that, to him Vayalar Ramavarma was more than a friend and was like an older brother.
Humming Vayalar’s evergreen song ‘Chandra Kalabham Charthi Urangum Theeram’ from the movie ‘Kottaram Vilkkanundo’, Ravi said he was a poet with an unrelenting lust for life.
“Through his beautiful lyrics, Vayalar took film songs to higher levels of appreciation. Even though his poems did not get the recognition it deserved from the literary circles, where poems are evaluated on the basis of rhyme and rhythm, he definitely conquered the hearts of millions of music lovers,” Ravi added. Deputy Mayor C K Manisankar, literary critic M K Sanu, veteran journalist K M Roy, Asianet News Group editor T N Gopakumar and Asianet News executive editor C L Thomas were also present on the occasion.
The cultural programme also included seminars on topics like “Vayalar and Poetry”, “Vayalar and Kerala”, “Vayalar and Cinema” and a musical programme in which prominent playback singers sang the evergreen songs penned by Vayalar.